Woking 4 - 0 Westfield

Glen Harrington - 21st July 2018

Goals will be hot on the agenda for the Cards on Tuesday as they welcome near-neighbours Westfield to the Laithwaite Community Stadium for the seventh of nine pre-season friendlies.

Overall, it’s been an encouraging start for this new-look Woking side, who under the guidance of new manager Alan Dowson have won three, drawn one and lost two. The defensive unit have been particularly impressive thus far, conceding just four goals, three against League One AFC Wimbledon, and all against higher league opposition, but a lack of cutting edge at the other end will be a slight concern, albeit with plenty of time still to improve.

New forwards Duane Ofori-Acheampong, Jake Hyde and Greg Luer have only netted twice between them so far whilst the three goals the Cards have scored in the last four games have all come from set pieces. Whilst he has stressed that pre-season results matter little, Dowse will no doubt be keen to see signs of improvement from his attacking players, particularly against lower league opposition.

Come along to Kingfield on Tuesday if you can to take in this local derby and cheer on the team.

Woking

Just as they did against Sutton a week earlier the Cards more than held their own against National League opposition on Saturday as big-spending Salford City came to town. The home side eventually went down 1-0 but will have left the majority of those in attendance optimistic for the season ahead.

Woking started with Berti Schotterl in goal, a back four of trialist Dan Spence, Josh Casey, Ian Gayle and Nathan Collier, a midfield of Kane Ferdinand, Christian Jolley and the more advanced Fabio Saraiva, with trialist Paul Hodges and Nicky Wheeler either side of Hyde. All of the other signed up players were involved in the matchday squad, along with trialists Kofi Halliday and Charlie Hester-Cook, with the exception of defender Charlie Wassmer who is still working to reach full fitness.

Jolley and Appau both went off with injuries against the Manchester-based club and it remains to be seen whether either will feature on Tuesday.

Westfield

The Field will compete in the Isthmian League South Central Division next season, the eighth tier of English football – two divisions below the Cards – which they reached after winning the Combined Counties League Premier Division last season. Spelthorne Sports, who Woking have already beaten this pre-season, also play in the Combined Counties – finishing 10th last term.

Westfield finished last year with a very impressive 106 point haul, winning 34 and drawing four of their 42 fixtures, and scoring 145 goals in the process. However, their top scorer for the last two seasons, former Woking academy player Max Blackmore, who netted 48 last year, has recently joined the Metropolitan Police alongside the likes of George Frith and Jack Mazzone.

In their last pre-season friendly Westfield played Farnborough, who the Cards still have to play ahead of our first game at East Thurrock, losing 3-0 across the road at Woking Park.

Bob Raikes - 23rd July 2018

Woking 4 Westfield FC 0
Pre-season friendly
24th July 2018

Beautiful clear blue skies greeted the players for their warm-ups - although at 26°C (79°F), the players didn't need much in the way of heat!

The LGS was closed, but there was plenty of room for the several hundred fans that attended for the friendly against local club Westfield FC, which plays in the Bostik League, South Central Division, two levels below Woking, so this was expected to be a less stern test than the most recent game against Salford. That’s how it turned out and the Cards were comfortable winners. The defence had another clean sheet to celebrate and goals from open play have started to appear.

Before the match there was a well observed minute’s silence in memory of John Martin who was a past councillor for Kingfield and Westfield and was very involved with both clubs.

New faces included Kiran Khinda-John (previously at Eastbourne but now released and who played for Dagenham a couple of weeks ago) and he played at centre half alongside Jack Cook, with Sam Mason in goal, Dan Choules (from the Academy) at right back and Dan Spence on the left. Spence is still listed on the Sutton United site as one of their players and there was unconfirmed talk of a possible loan at the match. The back five stayed the same for the whole match.

Ahead of them were Max Kretzschmar (Captain) and Charlie Hester-Cook with Reggie Young (a graduate of the Academy) wide on the left and Paul Hodges on the right. Providing the opening forward line were Jake Hyde and Greg Luer.

The game started with Woking on the front foot and with Reggie Young particularly impressive on the left wing, although Hodges was also causing concern for Westfield on the right. Woking dominated possession and it was the seventh minute before Mason had to make his first save. The crowd was expectant after Hodges was fouled 25 yards out, but Kretzschmar shot just over. Young had a shot blocked and Hodges had a shot saved after a good run.

After a third of the first half, there was the first serious threat on the Woking goal and poor marking allowed Westfield a good chance, but the header went over the bar. There was another missed header and a free kick from a dangerous position, and the ten minutes after the first chance was Westfield’s best spell in the match.

Woking got back into the ascendancy and after half an hour, there was a fine seven-pass Woking move, but Hyde headed over. In the 31st minute, Kretzschmar drew the attentions of three defenders just outside the box and won a free kick which he despatched neatly into the bottom right corner to make it 1-0. Westfield tried to react, but a weak shot went wide.

On 35 minutes, Young was injured after appearing to catch his studs in the turf and was down for some time, but came back to show the effects weren’t serious. After some nice work in midfield, in the 41st minute, Hyde beat the offside trap to pick up a great through ball and after committing the keeper, slotted the ball home to make it 2-0.

Again Westfield tried to react and some poor defending by the home side gave a chance that might have been converted by a better side, but Woking finished the half at 2-0.

Half Time – Woking 2 Westfield FC 0

The Cards kept the same line up in the second half, while Westfield made two changes, with the full backs Silvano, Camara and TJ coming off and Chiloka and Anuilar and Downy coming on.

However, after only four minutes of the second half, Young and Hester-Cook went off for the Cards, to be replaced by Declan Appau and Danny Taylor.

Westfield again made some effort to impact on Woking, but it was the home side that was most threatening and Moaners Corner had plenty of opportunity to comment after what looked like a clear penalty was not given just in front of them as Woking attacked the LGS. Jack Cook made a great run through and pass, but the final shot hit the side netting. Danny Taylor led a good attack and got in a dangerous cross.

On the hour, Saraiva and Duane Ofori-Acheampong came on for Hodges and Luer

However, at the other end there was a misunderstanding between Mason and his defenders that almost let in Aaron Watson for Westfield, who had been lively and busy, but, fortunately, the Cards again rode their luck. In the 65th minute, Woking got a good break with Ofori-Acheampong crossing and Jake Hyde scored his second goal. 3 – 0 and the home fans started to relax!

Jake Hyde slots home Woking's 3rd goal, from Duane's cross on the left (pic: David Holmes)

Appau was brought down just outside the box, but the resulting free kick was saved.

In the 71st minute. Kretzschmar was replaced by Kane Ferdinand and shortly after, Choules (who did not look like a recent Academy graduate) slipped allowing Watson of Westfield to get in a good cross, but the subsequent shot only rattled the hoardings by Mason’s left hand post.

At 80 minutes, Bellmaine, Burnham and Steer came off for Westfield to be replaced by Brambt, and Grosset with TJ returning to the field.

The game looked as though it might peter out, but in the 84th minute, Appau running in from the left got onto a through pass from Saraiva, and just beat the keeper to the ball to prod it into the net. 4 - 0.

In summary, this was a good chance for Woking to build some confidence going forward, but against better opposition, the couple of bad defensive mistakes might have been punished. There were some signs of very cohesive play and especially early on, some sharp wing play. More might have been made of the opportunities for wing play in the second half, when Ofori-Acheampong came on but four good goals was a positive return.